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8th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 5 of 12

Whose Story Is It?

Limited, omniscient and unreliable narrators

What your child practices

Recognizing third-person limited and omniscient narrators, spotting clues that a narrator is unreliable, and thinking about how a story would change from another character's point of view.

Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards benchmark: 8.1.6.1; 8.1.5.1 · how an author develops point of view, and comparing narrators

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Third-person limited: he, she, they, inside one character’s mind.
  2. Third-person omniscient: the narrator knows every character’s thoughts.
  3. An unreliable narrator may be wrong or biased, so look for clues that don’t match what they say.

Example: A narrator uses he, she and they, and sees into only one character’s mind. What point of view is this? He, she and they mean third person. Only one mind means it is limited. Answer: third-person limited

Whose Story Is It? in Minnesota

In the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards, this is unit 5 of 12 in 8th grade English Language Arts, after Irony, Satire & Allusion and before Forms, Patterns & Visuals.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    What is an unreliable narrator?

    • a narrator who always knows everything
    • a narrator who never uses the word I
    • a narrator who speaks to the reader as you
    • a narrator who may not tell the truth or may not understand events accurately

  2. Question 2

    What point of view is used?

    The Fence

    Kai watched the new neighbor's fence go up and saw it as a wall between them. Each board seemed to say, “Keep out.”

    Across the yard, the neighbor hammered in the last nail. She felt proud. At last, her dog could play safely.

    • third-person limited
    • first person
    • second person
    • third-person omniscient

  3. Question 3

    How does the narrator explain the smoky kitchen?

    The Best Soup Ever

    I want everyone to know that my soup was a triumph. The kitchen was a bit smoky, but that is what chefs call atmosphere. My brother coughed and left the room, probably to tell the neighbors how delicious it smelled.

    Dad said, “Let's order a pizza,” which shows how impatient he gets when he is hungry. I ate the whole bowl myself. Well, most of it. Some of it may have gone into the plant.

    • by opening a window
    • by saying the stove broke
    • by blaming the neighbors
    • by calling it atmosphere

  4. Question 4

    Is the narrator reliable?

    The Best Soup Ever

    I want everyone to know that my soup was a triumph. The kitchen was a bit smoky, but that is what chefs call atmosphere. My brother coughed and left the room, probably to tell the neighbors how delicious it smelled.

    Dad said, “Let's order a pizza,” which shows how impatient he gets when he is hungry. I ate the whole bowl myself. Well, most of it. Some of it may have gone into the plant.

    • Yes, because the narrator says I.
    • No, the details suggest the soup was probably bad.
    • Yes, everyone loved the soup.
    • No, because the narrator never mentions soup.

  5. Question 5

    If a story is retold from a different character's point of view, what mostly changes?

    • the title only
    • nothing at all
    • the setting only
    • which details and feelings are shown

  6. Question 6

    What point of view is used?

    The Best Soup Ever

    I want everyone to know that my soup was a triumph. The kitchen was a bit smoky, but that is what chefs call atmosphere. My brother coughed and left the room, probably to tell the neighbors how delicious it smelled.

    Dad said, “Let's order a pizza,” which shows how impatient he gets when he is hungry. I ate the whole bowl myself. Well, most of it. Some of it may have gone into the plant.

    • second person
    • first person
    • third-person omniscient
    • third-person limited

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